Bruce Willis' wife Emma Heming took to Instagram on Tuesday to issue an emotional plea to her followers amid her Die Hard actor husband's illness.
Bruce has frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a rare form of dementia, and Emma is working hard to raise awareness of the disease, sharing her frustration at the 'disrespectful' approach doctors have to her husband's condition.
Watch Emma's passionate message below…
After thanking her followers for helping her in her quest to raise awareness for FTD, Emma went on to explain why she is so determined to help people learn more about the illness.
"At the end of the day, what I would love to see is a cure, a treatment for this disease. If we don't raise our voices they're going to run right past it," she said, before adding that she is annoyed with how FTD is grouped together with other illnesses.
"Now I'm annoyed," she began. "When doctors of media talk about dementia, they say, 'Alzheimer's and other dementia,' FTD is the 'other dementia' and let me tell you something about that disease. It is real, it is out there and it will bring you to your knees,
"I think it is a disservice and absolutely disrespectful for these 'other dementias' to be put in that category. I think it's really important for us to know what these diseases are and call it what it is because that is where the confusion lies.
© Getty"When people think of dementia, they automatically think of Alzheimer's, so I do not want to see FTD swept under the rug."
Emma's followers were quick to support her, flooding the comments with understanding. "I love that you are giving a voice to FTD. It's not the other dementia. It is a brutal disease very different from Alzheimer's," one agreed, while another added: "Thank you for saying this!!! I totally agree that FTD doesn’t get the attention it deserves."
SEE: Bruce Willis' wife Emma Heming fights back tears as she shares sad update
What is frontotemporal dementia?
Frontotemporal dementia is the most common form of dementia in people under 60 and there are no treatments for the disease. FTD affects men and women equally.
Symptoms of FTD start gradually and progress steadily and often include dramatic behavioral changes such as swearing, impaired judgment, emotional withdrawal from others, loss of energy and less frequent speech.
Bruce's speech issues originally saw him diagnosed with aphasia, a condition that makes it difficult for people to talk, read, understand and write.
READ: Bruce Willis' daughters react to Emma Hemings heartbreaking update
Many people suffering from the condition make mistakes with how they phrase sentences — for example, choosing the wrong word or putting words together incorrectly, making mistakes with how they word sentences.
© InstagramThe main treatments for the condition are speech and language therapy in order to restore communicative functions and explore new methods of expression.
Our thoughts are with Emma and Bruce's whole family as they work to raise awareness of the condition.
